Electric switching device



Feb. 3, 1931. H. G. FRNCH 1,791,446

ELECTRIC SWITCHING DEVICE Filed Jan. 18. 1928 Inverw'or' Herwr'g G.French,

by MM Hi 5 f'or'neg.

Patented Feb. 3, 1931 UNITI-:D STATES APATENT OFFICE HENRY G. FRENCH, OFSCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, lA SSIGNOIR. TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK -nLEc'rnIc swrrcnnro DEVICE A Application ledJanuary 18, 1928. Serial No. 247,705.

My invention relates to electric switching devices and particularly toswitching devices of the type wherein a movably' mounted main switchunit is provided with disconnecting contacts adapted to cooperate withfixed contacts. One object of my inventlon is the provision of animproved switching device `oi. the above mentioned character which willinsure that thel circuit controlled by the device will never be openedinitially at the disconnecting contacts and will never be finally closedat those contacts. Another object of my invention is the provision ofimproved means for moving the main switch unit and for controlling itsmovement toward and from a fixed member supporting the fixeddisconnecting contacts.

My invention will be better understood from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing, and its scope will bepointed out in the appended claims. l

Referring to the drawing, Fig. lis a side elevation o anelectricswitching device involving my invention; and Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are detailviewsl of the same, Fig. 3 being a section on line 3-3 of Fig, 2.

I have chosen to illustrate my invention as applied to a switchingdevice of the truck panel type whichinvolves a fixed housing or cabinetand a truck panel carrying a main switch and adapted to be rolled intoand out of the housing, the truck panel and housing having cooperatingdisconnecting switch contacts. The housing 1, open at'its front side, isadapted to receive the truck panel 2 which fis mounted on wheels 3 sothat it may easily be rolled into andout of the housing. Supported inthe rear of the housing and the truck panel are the fixed and movablecontacts 4 and 5 respectively of the lusual disconnecting switch whichis controlled by the position of the truck panel in the'housing andcarried by the truck panel is the main switch 7. This switch may beprovided with operating mechanism common to this type of switch, whichmechanism may be either power or manually actuated. In Fig. 1 the mainoperating lever 8 is shown eonnectedl to the hand lever 9 through thetoggle links 10 and'r v11, rod` 12 and the trip free device 13. Trippingof the latter is effected by a tripping coil or coils in casing 14operating the trip lever 15 in the well understood manner.

In acordance with my invention I have provided means for tripping openthe main switch and for locking the operating mechanism in open circuitposition. Thus to actu-- ate the trip lever 15 a shaft is mounted in thepanel 2 having the arm 17 on the outer end adapted to raise the triplever 15 and the arm 18 on the inner end connected by rod 19 throughlever 20 to control rod 21, the arrangement being such that upwardmovement of rod 21 raises arm 17 to trip the switch to open circuitposition. For locking the switch actuating mechanism in open circuitposition I -have formed the link 11 of the toggle mechanism with the arm23 having the pin 24 at the free end thereof and have provided the latch25 to engage the pin when the switch is opened. The latch is operated bythe rod 21 which passes through a lateral arm 26 on the latch and has acollar on the outer end thereof. Between a second collar on the rod 21and the arm 26 is the compression spring 27. By this Aconstructionupward movement of the rod 21 in addition to tripping the main switchswings the latch 25 after the switch opens to a position to retain thelmechanism against closing movement until -hand operated, gearedmechanism operable from the front of the truck panel and constructed tooperate the aforedescribed control rod 21. Pivoted to the truck panel 2at 30 is the frame 31 in which is mounted shaft 32 having the worm 33and the rack 34 engaging and moved by the worm. The pivotal movement offrame 31 is limited in the upward and downward direction respectively bythe stops 35 and 36. Rack 34 slides on the plate 37 forming a partof theframe 31 and at one end has the lug or hook 38 which engages' in thenotch 39 in the fixed member sion 51, thereby pushing up l tripping openthe switch. the spring 27 is compressed causing the latch ythere ismounted in the frame 31 the slidable pin 48, one -er'id of which engageslever 49 to which rod 21 connects and in the other end ofwhich ismounted the roller 50. Rack 34 l is provided with the depression 51therein positioned to receive the roller when the truck panel is inthefull in position as shown by Fig. 1. In this position of the truckpanel, the control rod 21 is in its lowermost position when arm 17 isout of engagement with tripping lever 15 and the latch 25 is held awayfrom the pin 24, thus permitting the free functioning ofthe main switch.When the truck panel is to be withdrawn from the holising the switchfirst should be tripped open in order that -the,circuit shall not -beinterrupted by the disconnecting switch contacts which as is wellunderstoodare not adapted for this use and might become badly burned. Ifthe-operator should fail to trip openl the switch and begin to rack outthe truck panel the initial movement of the mechanism will cause theroller 50 to roll out of the depreson the rod 21 and At the same time 25to hook over' pin 24 as soon as the switch operating mechanism reachesfull open posi` tion which effectively locks it against being recloseduntil'the truck panel is returned to the full in position.

To give the operatorgan indication when the truck'panel has been'withdrawn a sufficient distance to cause a complete separation of thedisconnecting contacts with an ample margin of safety I have provided asecond fixed stop and a pawl 56 pivoted to the frame' 31. Also pivotedto the frame 31 is `the positionshown in Fig. 2 by the springA 'thelatch 57 having a shoulder adapted to ena shoulder on the pawl 56 asshown in gage 2a The latch 57'is yieldingly held in Fig.

58 which acts through the sleeve 59 and the arm 60 thereon which latteris pivoted to the latch at 61.l When the truck panelhas been racked outto the point .where pawl 56 engages st'op 55 the movement is arrestedand in this position of the truck panel the disconnecting contacts areseparated a safe distance.4

If the operator wishes to completely remove the truck panel he pushesinwardly on the \socket 45 which moves the sleeve V59 and latch A57 tothe position shown in Fig. 4. Pawl 56 is now rotated counterclockwise bythe spring 63attached thereto to engage in the notch 64 away from .oflatch 57 as shown in Fig. 4. 'Further ropanel a little further duringwhich movement the inclined face 65 on pawl 56 rides up over the stop 55slightly rotating the frame and rack on pivot 30 until the hook 38 onthe end of the rack is lifted clear of the stop 40 shown in dottedlines. The truck panel now is free of the housing and may be rolled outto any desired place on the floor, handles for this purpose usually;being provided on the face of the panel.

When the truck panel is returned to the housing the hook 38 on the rackslides up the inclined surface of stop 40 until it drops into the notch39 when further movement is arrested. Pawl 56 upon engaging the stop 55rotates freely out of the notch 64 and permits latch 57 to return to itsoriginal position as shown in Fig. 2. While the truck panel has beenremoved from the housing there is a possibility that some one may haverotated' the worm so as to move the rack tothe position shown in Fig. 2and may also have closed the main switch and so left it. If then thetruck panel is pushed into the housing there would lbe danger of thecircuit being finally closed bythe disconnecting switch contacts withated as shown in Fig. `4, for in that case pawl 67 upon engaging stop 55is freely movable and swings into notch 68. If, however, during theremoval of the truck panel from the housing the rack has been moved fromthe extended position, for example, to the position shown in Fig. 2 inorder to test the operation of the main switch, pawl 67 cannot rotateupon strikin stop 55 and will4 prevent the truck panel eingpushed intothe housing until the rack is again extended tosuch a point as willpermit the pawl to swing into the notch 68. As soon as the rack is movedits innermost position shown in Fig.- 2, lever 49 is raised to trip openthe main switch bein reclosed. .The truck panel may now lsafe y bepushed into ther housing until stop ed by the engagement ofthe hook 38in notc 39 after which it is drawnor racked into the full in position bymeans .of the tool 44. On reaching that positionlroller 50 drops intodepression 51, permittinglthe closing and normal functioning of thelmain switch. i What I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is:

1. An electric switching device comprising a disconnecting switch havingcooperating fixed and movable contacts, a main switch if it be closedand to lock it againstmounted to move with said movable contact, saidmain switch having a tripping` device therefor and a means for lockingthe switch in open circuit position, and means responsive to an initialmovement of the movable contact of the disconnecting switch to openAcircuit; position for operating both the tripping device andthe lockingmeans.

Q. An electric switching device of the truck .panel type comprising afixed housing, a truck of the truck panel when said contacts have beenseparated, and means operable by said handle for releasing said stopmeans to permit the complete withdrawal of the truck panel. l

l 3. An electric switching device comprising a fixed housing, a truckpanel movable therein, disconnecting switch contacts securedrespectively to said members, a main switch carried by said truck panelhaving a trippingdevice and a device for locking the switch in opencircuit position, means carried by the truck panel comprising a worm andrack for moving the same into and out of its inal in position in thehousing at which the disconnecting contacts engage each other, meanscontrolled by said rack for actuating said tripping and locking devicesand means comprising a pawl controlled by said rack for preventing thetruck panel being pushed to its inal in position in the housing.

4. An electric switching device comprising fixed and movable units.adapted to be withdrawn one from the other, cooperating disconnectingcontacts on said units, a main switch carried by the movable unit andhaving a tripping device, operating means for said switch, means forlocking said operatingmeans in open circuit position, a resilient memberconnected to said locking means, and means operative upon the initialwithdrawal of the movable unit from the xed unit for stressing saidresilient member whereby the locking means becomes operative when theswitch is tripped open.

5. An electric switching device comprising a housing and truck panelhaving cooperating disconnecting .switch contacts, a main switch carriedby the truck panel having a 'tripping device, mechanism for moving thetruck panel adapted to be actuated from the front of the same, means forlocking the switch in open circuit position, and means responsive to aninitial movement of said mechanism to cause the separation of thecooperating disconnecting contacts for operating said tripping deviceand said locking means.

G. An electric switching device comprising a iixed unit, a movable unitadapted to be withdrawn therefrom, cooperating disconnecting contacts onsaid units, a main switch having a tripping device carried by saidmovable unit, operating means for said switch, a locking membertherefor, and a member actuated in response to an initial withdrawal ofthe movable member from the ixed member having a substantiallynon-yielding connection with said tripping means and having a springconnection with said locking member.

7. An electric switching device compris- `ing a housing and a truckpanel having cooperating disconnecting contacts, a main switch having atripping device carried by the truck panel, operating mechanism for thetruck panel comprising a worm and rack,

means for locking the switch in open circuit Y

